


Witness, A

by AstralPlace



Series: Witness [1]
Category: Rent - Larson
Genre: Angst, Blood, Gen, I promise, Major Character Death (canon), Minor Character Death, and suicide, angels death, aprils death, because hes the main character, but not his pov, i dont hate her i just didnt think of anything to put her in, i hate first person, ill make up for it some day, im sorry i didnt mention joanne in this, mostly mark centric, not too sad though, oof, this is the sad one, trigger warning for drug abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-08 02:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17377844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstralPlace/pseuds/AstralPlace
Summary: Why is he their witness?A 5+1 things trope, without the +1. Five times Mark witnesses life’s unfairness.Each part is exactly 100 words, and the setup is in chronological order. This is the first half.





	Witness, A

**Author's Note:**

> This is almost more of a 5+5 prompt (if you read both parts) now that I think about it. I can't figure out how to indent anything so please ignore that and pretend each beginning line is indented. Will add tags if and when needed. Enjoy!

Mark should have said something the first time he noticed track marks on Roger’s arms. He should have confronted him the first time he saw used needles in Roger’s trash. Should’ve brought up Roger’s hazy nights— all of his drinking problems and drug abuse, all of his terrible decisions— the next day when the fog lifted. He wished he would have said something before this became routine. Before Roger stopped taking care of himself, before he and April spiraled further, before he found himself worrying every night whether today would be the day his roommate would overdose. 

He should have.

******

It’s the thick of night and Mark is dead on his feet— he’d been out getting some late night recordings. He stumbles past the kitchen, past a comatose Roger, past the analog clock that reads 2:16.

The smell that came before he entered the bathroom was overwhelming. 18 minutes pass between the 911 call and the arrival of first responders. Hours elapse before Mark gets the bathroom back in order. It takes him eternity to forget that smell— the note, the bloodstained floor, April’s arms, April’s face. 

Roger was passed out the entire time.

He still can’t forgive himself.

******

It’s bone-chillingly cold outside, mid-January, and their place is only marginally warmer inside. 

Mark’s hands shake— all of him shakes— as he tries to document the snowfall. He can’t stop them, and they’re painful— useless. He has to quit recording and put them in his pockets.

It’s the second year that they’ve had to deal with this— with having barely enough heat to make it through— but slowly it seems that they’re getting used to it.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t brutal. Roger leaves his bed once daily, if that, opting for the security found in layered blankets and isolation.

******

It’s stupefying and unfair how bright and cheery Angel remains, even as he hurdles closer and closer to the end. He trembles all the time, his voice thins, he’s physically weak— it’s pitiful— and yet he’s still so full of energy. His laugh is still the same, his smile just as bright. It doesn’t change the fact that he’s sick, but it makes it all go easier. He’s like Icarus, Angel is— except he smiles as he flies directly into the Sun.

And just like that, he’s gone. An angel.

Mark hopes that they can all go out that gracefully.

******

The way Mimi looked the day she went to rehab— pallid, weakly, thin, pitiful— is still fresh in Mark’s mind. Her figure was much more skeletal than months before; she had a constant sheen of sweat over her always trembling body. She didn’t look like herself. She looked sick. Scared.

She’d gotten this frail, wavering sound to her voice, like she had a perpetual sore throat— though, with all of the force that she coughed with, she probably did. It’d taken all of her effort to barely function.

Mark was glad that Roger wasn’t around to see her like that.


End file.
